Archives for February 2012

Here’s a surprise license rescue: Digital Manga announced via Twitter yesterday that they have licensed Erementar Gerad, which was known as Elemental Gelade when Tokyopop was publishing it.

Shaenon Garrity is the guest writer for this week’s House of 1000 Manga column at ANN, and she picks a good one: Mars, by Fuyumi Soryo, who went on to make one of my favorite manga, ES: Eternal Sabbath.

AstroNerdBoy notes a new translation team for Kodansha’s Love Hina omnibuses: Alethea and Athena Nibley (whose other credits include Fruits Basket) will be taking over.

Reviews: Wolfen Moondaughter discusses four yaoi manga at Sequential Tart. At The Manga Critic, Kate Dacey goes on two second dates with vol. 2 of Dawn of the Arcana and vol. 2 of Gate 7, but only one is a keeper.

Wolfen Moondaughter on The Bed of My Dear King (Sequential Tart)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 8 of Chi’s Sweet Home (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 16 of Higurashi: When They Cry (The Fandom Post)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 1 of Husband, Honeymoon (Sequential Tart)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 2 of Love Hina (omnibus edition) (Sequential Tart)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 1 of Love Pistols (Sequential Tart)
Angela Eastman on vol. 6 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Fandom Post)
Wolfen Moondaughter on Oku-San’s Daily Fantasies (Sequential Tart)
Sakura Eries on vol. 6 of Oresama Teacher (The Fandom Post)
Paige McKee on vol. 3 of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Sequential Tart)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 2 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s (Sequential Tart)
Erica Friedman on Yurikan Miel (Okazu)

Over at MTV Geek, I talked to Kurt Hassler about Soul Eater NOT, which Yen Plus magazine will be running as a worldwide release at the same time it is released in Japan. I also got an exclusive reveal of the cover of the Anne Rice graphic novel, Interview with the Vampire: Claudia’s Story.

I picked over this week’s new manga at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo does the same in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney takes a look at next week’s new manga.

At ANN, Carlo Santos does a side-by-side comparison of Viz’s digital manga on the Nook and the iPad. One caveat: Some of his criticisms of the way page turns work on the Nook are based on a pre-release version of the software that has since been corrected. However, he has plenty of other things to say regarding screen size, interface, and the reading experience, so just keep his introductory note in mind as you read the article.

Matt Blind has a new set of manga best-sellers (drawn from online sales) and a new edition of Manga Radar with some old and new manga for him to add to his 10,000-title database.

Derik Bown pits Alucard agaisnt Alexander Anderson in his latest Combat Commentary post at Manga Bookshelf.

If you can read French, check out this interview with Atsushi Kaneko, creator of Bambi and Her Pink Gun and SOIL, who passed through Paris on his way to Angouleme.

News from Japan: Black Jack is back! Akita Shoten will revive the classic Tezuka comic with new stories based on real medical experiences sent in by readers. There’s no word on who will write or draw it, but really—what could possibly go wrong? The French site Manga news has word of two series that are ending soon, Boku ha Beatles and Aishiterutte Itte mo ii yo. The 13th volume of Evangelion—the first in two years—is on the way. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews

Danica Davidson on vol. 3 of Ai Ore (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 38 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Danica Davidson on Manga Shakespeare: Othello (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Danica Davidson on vol. 5 of My Girlfriend’s a Geek (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 12 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Ed Sizemore and Johanna Draper Carlson discuss Bakuman, and then Erica Friedman joins in for a conversation about fan entitlement, in the latest Manga Out Loud podcast.

Poor Poor Lips

JManga has three new titles up this week: Vol. 1 of Japan Sinks, by Golgo 13 creator Takao Saito; I Love You, Chief Clerk, a yaoi manga; and the yuri title Poor Poor Lips, which was localized in partnership with ALC Publishing. At her blog, Okazu, ALC principal Erica Friedman asks readers to e-mail JManga and urge them to set up a global yuri portal—right now the manga is restricted to North American readers, and that’s just bogus.

AstroNerdBoy outlines his vision for Kodansha’s upcoming edition of Genshiken Nidaime.

Have you fallen behind on a series or two? Do you just feel like a manga binge? Either way, check out Barnes & Noble’s three-for-two manga sale, which runs through tomorrow. The deal is for online purchases only, and it can’t be combined with other discounts, but still… three for the price of two!

News from Japan: Details are still sketchy, but Bunny Drop creator Yumi Unita will launch a new series, tentatively titled Itohen, in the April issue of Feel Young. Meanwhile, the 10th and final volume of Bunny Drop will be out in March. Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond will resume serialization in Kodansha’s Morning magazine next month, after a long hiatus due first to Inoue’s health problem and then to his loss of enthusiasm for the series.

Reviews

Kristin on vol. 3 of Blue Exorcist and vol. 12 of Black Bird (Comic Attack)
Brad Rice on vol. 1 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Japanator)
Lori Henderson on The Innocent (Manga Xanadu)
Animemiz on Wandering Son (Anime Diet)

Legendary Dark Horse editor Carl Horn guests on the ANNCast this week. I haven’t had time to listen to the podcast yet, but I have heard Carl speak, and I would say this is well worth a listen.

Kodansha Comics will publish the Genshiken sequel Genshiken: Second Season beginning in September, and they will start publishing the first Genshiken in omnibus editions in May.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at Weekly Shonen Magazine.

News from Japan: Shinobi Life will come to an end in the April issue of Gekkan Princess, with a spinoff chapter appearing in the May issue. The 13th and final volume of the series will be out this summer.

Reviews: Ash Brown covers the past week’s manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Connie on vol. 8 of Black Butler (Slightly Biased Manga)
Zack Davisson on vol. 3 of Cardcaptor Sakura (Japan Reviewed)
Erica Friedman on the January issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 6 of Cross Game (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Nicola on vol. 1 of Fluffy Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Back to Books)
Caleb Dunaway on Pluto (Guys Lit Wire)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Psyren (Manga Widget)
Connie on vol. 8 of Rin-ne (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 5 of Tyrant Falls in Love (Slightly Biased Manga)

Johanna Draper Carlson goes through her review copies to show us what manga to look forward to in the next few months.

Ash Brown wraps up the Usamaru Furuya-based Manga Moveable Feast at Experiments in Manga.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss our Pick of the Week.

Erica Friedman rounds up all the yuri anime, manga, and doujinshi news at Okazu.

Digital has announced a new yaoi title, I’ve Seen It All, and Lissa Pattillo has the 411 at Kuriousity.

Connie continues her tour of the Eroicaverse with a look at the late-1970s spinoff El Halcon – The Hawk.

Matt Blind has a look at the manga best-sellers from mid-January at Manga Bookshelf, and he takes a look at some manga that are on the ascendant in his Manga Radar column.

Reviews: Johanna Draper Carlson posts some short reviews of shoujo manga at Comics Worth Reading. The Manga Bookshelf bloggers greet the week with a new set of Bookshelf Briefs.

Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 9 of Bakuman (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Bakuman (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on Bed of My Dear King (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on Black Gate (omnibus edition) (Slightly Biased Manga)
Alexander Hoffman on vols. 1-5 of Blue Exorcist (Manga Village)
Connie on Career Gate (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Case Closed (Blogcritics)
Lori Henderson on Chibi Vampire (Manga Xanadu)
Connie on Entangled Circumstances (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Fantasy Land (Slightly Biased Manga)
Serdar Yegulalp on vol. 1 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Genji Press)
Anna on Hana-Kimi (omnibus edition) (Manga Report)
Connie on vol. 8 of InuYasha (VizBig edition) (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 33 of Negima (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on vol. 4 of Recipe for Gertrude (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 11 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lissa Pattillo on Shocking Pink! (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Toriko (The Comic Book Bin)
Sweetpea616 on vols. 1-7 of Tramps Like Us (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)

Sean Gaffney looks ahead to next week’s new manga.

Jason Thompson takes a look at the early sports manga Harlem Beat in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith go shoujo—well, mostly—in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

At Blog of the North Star, Milo posts an exuberant appreciation of the pro-drunkenness, anti-vegetarian, anti-Japan’s-allies manga Toriko.

At The Grand Line, Greg translates Takuya Kimura’s interview with One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda; Kimura, who has been voted the Sexiest Man in Japan, is an unabashed One Piece fan.

Kate Dacey continues her Show Us Your Stuff series with a peek at the manga collection of “Calvinist otaku” Aaron.

News from Japan: Ken Akamatsu is winding up his long-running (37 volumes so far) series Negima!, and he is taking a brief hiatus before completing the last three chapters. Tite Kubo’s Bleach is heading into its final story arc. MM! is coming to an end this month. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews: The About Heroes team files some brief reviews of recent releases, most (but not all) from Kodansha.

Lissa Pattillo on vol. 6 of Cross Game (Kuriousity)
Jason Yadao on vols. 1-3 of Genkaku Picasso (Otaku Ohana)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 1 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (The Fandom Post)
Kristin on vol. 7 of Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee (Comic Attack)
Joseph Luster on vol. 11 of Twin Spica (Otaku USA)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Wandering Son (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s (The Fandom Post)
TSOTE on Zombie Loan (Three Steps Over Japan)